Net income fell to 818 million kronor ($129 million) from
847 million kronor a year earlier, the Lund, Sweden-based
company said in a statement today. Analysts on average predicted
profit of 761 million kronor, based on 12 estimates compiled by
Bloomberg. Sales rose 2.2 percent to 7.20 billion kronor.

Orders in the oil and gas sector helped to push growth in
the U.S. and South America, which together made up more than 20
percent of the company’s revenue in 2012. Group order intake
gained about 2 percent from a year earlier and Renstrom said he
expects demand to remain at about the same level in the fourth
quarter, compared with the previous three months.

Alfa Laval makes gear for cleaning wastewater and purifying
ballast water as well as scrubbers that clean sulfur emissions
on ships. It established a separate marine and diesel division
last year after adding Aalborg Industries of Denmark in December
2010.